Beet topper



A. H. BAssETT 2,429,044

BEET TOPPER l Filed July 29, 1944 2 sheets-sheet 1 n JNVENToR.. H. BHSSgTT Trng/V574 oct. 14, 1947.

0ct. 14, 1947. A, H; BASSETT 2,429,044

BEET TOPPER Filed July 29, 1944 2 sheets-sheet 2 Cmlblmn". WIL

INVENTR Basse-TT Patented Oct. 14, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE "2,429,044 .BEET 'roPrER Y Applton H. BassetbBell, "'Cali.

,Applieatinnuulys-zs, 1944,i-serilNossmgms (oies- 107) 45Claims. l

:Myinvention .relates to a beet topper and'has for its principal object, vto provide a `simple, strong, `durable and inexpensive mechanical structure for effectively cutting and removing-.the tops of sugar beets, as the beet harvester, which carries the topping mechanism, travels'along the rows of beets.

Beet crowns, from which the leaves grow, project different distances above the Asurface of the Yground and to avoid the wasteful cuttingzof the crown or upper-portions .of the beet bodies, I proposegto provide la topping 'mechanism including a knife, which is automatically raised and .lowered so as to effect the cutting oi the top or leaves in accordance with the height of the beet crowns above the -ground surface, in other words, the height of beet crowns, above the .surface of the ground, automatically and accurately regulates the elevation of the knife at the time of the cutting function.

Further objects `of `my invention zare, yto provide a beetftopper of Y:thek character referred to, which may be readily associated withstandard forms of beet harvesters; to4 provide a beet topper wherein the plane of -cutting action is determined by a plurality of wheels which roll over the beets immediately in `advance `of 'the knife and further, to zprovide a ksimple 'means vdisposed `to the rear of the knife for deflecting `thevcut beet tops, laterally and depositing same .on the row over which the topper'is` travelling.

With the foregoing and'other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel `features of construction and arrangement of parts vwhich will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan'view of va beet top cutting machine constructed in accordance with lmy invention. A Y p Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the topping machine.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the topper and showing the positions of the wheels and knife y while same are passing over a high crown beet.

Fig. 4 is a. detail vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1. y

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I0 designates the rear central portion of a conventional beet harvesting machine and mounted therein are longitudinally disposed parallel rails II.

.,Pivotall-y-suspended from fthe forward portions of rails II is a short hanger I2 and pivotallysecured tothelower kendof said'hangeris the forwardenduof a rearwardly and downwardlyextending arm Ivi-which carrieszthe.gaugewheels of the topping structure.

Secured to the 'centralportionof `arm I4 are the=forward ends of a series of downwardlyand rearwardly extending parallel .bars -I 5.

Journalledon horizontal bearings between the rear portions `of bars I5, arewheels `II-ofuniform size 'and -which are arrangedin a'ftransversely disposedfinclinedlrow.

.Pivotally connected .at Ill vto theintermediate portion of .arm I4, is the lower end of .an upwardly and forwardly extending -arm I8, the upperiportion of which, is Vprovided with a series oisapertures I9, for the reception `of a bolt 2li whichpasses through rail II,Lthus Venablingzthe axis :of said Aarm :I8 to be adjusted iverticallyA on said zrails. v :Eromfthe upper Lendiofrarm 1 I.8,: anL arm orflever 2 I V:extends foria considerable'distance're'arwardly overtherails I ILI :and to eounterbalancetl'ie weight of farm il4 .fand parts 1 carried lthereby and to lprovide a.resilient suspensiontherefor, the rear-'end of arm 2l is connected to the forward Vportions of `'rails I? I by a' retractile coil spring u122.

fPivotally connected atl23-toarm 4I` 4 to the lrear of 4'p'ivot'Ia-I is the=lower end-of Lthe vertical'arm of 'an linverted ele-shaped 'member 24, `the -horizonta'l 1arm of lwhich extends rearwardly Yover the wheels I6 and adjustably connected thereto bymeansof a bolt'25-which5passes throughanyone'o'f'a series-of apertures `v2li in said member is a=substantially upright arm 27.

The' construction j ust *describedprovides simple andconvenientm'eansfor adjusting the knife or blade, hereinafter described, toward and away fromwheels I 6.'

The forward end of arm 28 is pivotally connected at 23EL to rails I I and adjustably connected to said arm infront of arm Z'l, by means of a bolt 29, is a substantially upright arm 30, the lower end of which is pivotally connected to the forward end of member 24 by a pin or bolt 3I. Arms 21 and 30 converge toward their upper ends.

Immediately belowI member 24, the lower portion of arm 2l iseXtended outwardly over the left hand wheels I'6 and thence downwardly to form a vertical arm 32 which is slotted as designated by 33 for the reception of bolts 34, which adjustably clamp to said arm, a plate 35 which 3 extends upward from the forward left hand end of a horizontal blade 36. (See Fig. 4.)

This blade, which is transversely inclined, is positioned immediately behind the lower portions of wheels I6 so that the cutting edge 31 of said blade cuts through the crowns of the beets immediately after said Wheels have passed over said crowns and the leaves projecting therefrom which latter are crushed forwardly by the wheels. I

Secured to and projecting rearwardly from the lower rear portion of plate 35 is an upright deflector wall 38. Pivoted to swing on horizontal axes along the transversely inclined rear edge of blade 35 are the forward ends of conveyor rods 4B which extend rearwardly and slightly upward with their rear portions curved laterally toward the right hand, thus providing in effect, a conveyor chute for the tops cut from the beets, so that same are conveyed and discharged onto the ground immediately to the right of the row over which the topper is passing.

In operation, as the topper travels forward over a row of beets, wheels i6 will raise very little, if any, on passing over beet crowns which are flush with, or protrude only slightly above the surface of the ground and thus the following blade will, in removing the leaves or beet tops, cut away very little, if any of the crowns. On passing over high crown beets wheels I6 will correspondingly rise, thus swinging the rear end of arm I4 and parts carried thereby upward, thus correspondingly elevating the blade so as to cut the leaves from the tops of the crowns, with very little, if any losses from the beet bodies, due to low cutting through the crowns thereof.

Due to the linkage arrangement of the arms 24, 21, 28 and 30 the raise of the knife in passing over high crown beets, is directly proportional to the raise of the wheels in passing over such beets and as said arms are adjustably connected, the relative movement between the wheels and knife may be accurately controlled so that very little, if any of the beet bodies are removed when cutting the tops from low, medium or high crown beets, which is the prime desideratum of the invention.

As the topper moves forward with the harvester, the topped beets are lifted from the ground by conventional points or plows P and transferred to the side of the row, by curved rods R, which project rearwardly and laterally from said points.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a beet topper which is simple in construction, inexpensive of manufacture and very'efective in performing the functions for which it is intended.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the Various partsof my improved beet topper may be made 4 and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a beet harvester, a support, an arm fiexibly connected to said support and extending rearwardly and downwardly from its point of connection, a transversely inclined row of wheels mounted for operation on the lower rear portion of said arm, an arm having its lower forward end pivotally connected to said first mentioned arm and extending rearwardly above said wheels, a plate adjustably secured to the lower end portion of said second mentioned arm, a transversely inclined horizontally disposed blade secured at one end to said adjustable plate and positioned rearwardly of the lower portions of said wheels, a pair of arms pivotally connected to said second mentioned arm and extending upwardly therefrom and a horizontally disposed arm pivotally and adjustably connected to the upper ends of said pair of arms and pivotally connected to said support.

2. A beet harvester as set forth in claim 1 and one of which pair of upwardly projecting arms is adjustably connected to the rear portion of said second mentioned arm.

3. A beet harvester as set forth in claim 1, including a lever adjustably fulcrumed intermediate its ends on said support, the lower forward end of which lever is pivotally connected to the intermediate portion of said rst mentioned arm and a retractile spring connecting the rear portion of said lever with said support, rearwardly from said horizontally disposed arm and pair of upwardly extending arms.

4. A beet harvester as set forth in claim 1 with a vertically deflector plate on the advance end of said blade, and a beet top conveyor secured to and. projecting rearwardly and laterally from said blade.

APPELTON H. BASSETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 882,465 Hanna Mar. 17, 1908 1,096,695 Deyl May 12, 1914 2,212,751 Powers Aug. 27, 1940 2,231,793 Braden Feb. 11, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 511,520 France Sept. 25, 1920 

